WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA) jointly commended Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper for signing into law energy storage legislation that will help the state’s solar market and jobs grow. The measure, Senate Bill 9, allows Colorado residents to install and use energy storage on their property without unnecessary restrictions or discriminatory rates. The legislation makes Colorado one of the first states to declare energy storage a “right” for consumers.

Following is a statement from Sean Gallagher, vice president of state affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), on today’s filing of a multi-faceted settlement to resolve energy issues in Colorado

Wednesday, Aug. 26: A good day. A good day for net metering policies. A good day for the solar industry. A good day for consumers who are interested in having options and choices for their individual energy portfolios.On Wednesday, Aug. 26, there were two important victories that took place in Nevada and Colorado. Independent net metering results that leave both of those states, both economically and environmentally, better off – at least for now.

In a precedent-setting decision, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the constitutionality of Colorado’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS), ruling that the state’s RPS does not impose unlawful regulations on out-of-state companies.

Led by solid growth in both the residential and commercial markets, Colorado ranked 13th in the nation in installed solar capacity last year, according to the recently-released U.S. Solar Market Insight 2014 Year in Review.

Demonstrating continued support for clean, renewable energy, residential solar installations in Colorado in Q3 were up more than 30 percent over the same period last year, according to the new quarterly report from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

At the urging of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and other stakeholders, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today approved a settlement that will reopen the company’s highly popular Colorado small residential and medium-sized Solar*Rewards solar programs until the state’s 2014 Renewable Energy Standard (RES) Compliance Plan is finalized later this year.